County rules review committee recommends new Parks, Recreation and Forestry committee; joint park commission to remain policy body
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Summary
A proposal to reorganize county park governance was recommended by the county rules review committee and will go to the incoming county board; staff said a joint park commission would remain for policy matters and that the change would likely take effect after county board action in May 2026.
Staff updated the committee on a proposal to create a Parks, Recreation and Forestry committee at the county level while retaining the existing joint park commission as a quarterly policy body.
The change, presented to the county rules review committee earlier in the day, would move project- and operations-level county items to the new committee while reserving budget, policy and scope-of-service issues for the joint park commission. Staff said the rules review committee passed the recommendation and it will be forwarded to the new county board, with a likely effective date in May 2026 if approved.
Staff emphasized the proposal should not affect existing contractual obligations because the park commission was established by a 1974 resolution and the city–county intergovernmental agreement would be updated only to reference the changed committee structure. If adopted by the county board, staff said the city may need to update a few city ordinances to reference the park commission appropriately.
No city action was taken at the meeting; the committee received the update and no objections were raised.